Lavish wedding, heavily-sponsored event or both?

Melissa got married last August to her childhood friend James Chen in a lavish affair. While the guests suspected sponsorships, the social media mentions in Melissa’s Instagram and other accounts confirmed numerous rumors–a lot of her wedding was sponsored by brands.

Cheryl Tay, a fitness blogger, expressed a different opinion and said, “The objective of giving a hongbao is not to help the person getting married recoup their spending. It’s about celebrating with them and wishing them well.”

Netizens are torn

But what do the netizens have to say? Even if they weren’t guests, they could surely get a glimpse at the wedding thanks to Melissa’s prolific posting about the event complete with social media mentions.

Some netizens weren’t surprised at all as sponsorships are de rigueur with bloggers. And besides, the brands approached them!

Some netizens didn’t mince words, though.

Some users think that the wedding could have been a marketing seminar.

Others took issue with the hongbao (or didn’t take issue at all).

Some posts took issue with the fact she invited so many guests to her wedding and said that she purposedly got so many to increase reach.